Ubisoft Assassin's Creed leadership changes route franchise control through Tencent-backed subsidiary

Feb 23, 2026

Summary

Ubisoft installed three veteran executives as Assassin's Creed leadership inside Vantage Studios, its sole Tencent-funded subsidiary

Vantage Studios, seeded by $1.25B from Tencent in March 2025, is the only creative house structured as a formal subsidiary

The move places Ubisoft's highest-value IP behind a separate legal entity while the parent faces strikes, layoffs, and project cancellations

"Finalizing the appropriate model to strike the right balance between autonomy, accountability, and strategic alignment"

— Yves Guillemot, CEO, Ubisoft, on the other four creative houses

Four of Ubisoft's five creative houses are internal divisions; Vantage alone is a legal subsidiary

Tencent seeded the entity with $1.25B in March 2025; it was named in October 2025

Ubisoft Montreal co-founder Christophe Derennes and Charlie Guillemot lead the studio

Assassin's Creed, Rainbow Six, and Far Cry all sit under this separate corporate entity

Martin Schelling (ex-chief production officer, Black Flag/Valhalla credits) becomes brand lead

Jean Guesdon (creative director on Origins and Black Flag, Ubisoft since 2007) becomes content head

François de Billy (production director on Valhalla/Origins) takes production excellence head role

They join existing leads Andrée-Anne Boisvert and Lionel Hiller over the coming weeks

Five French unions called an international strike; over 1,000 workers walked off for three days

Ubisoft canceled the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake and shuttered its Halifax office

Subsidiary structure creates legal distance between franchise production and parent labor actions

Tencent's $1.25B is better protected inside a defined entity than inside an unstable parent balance sheet

Events

Companies

Games

Locations

—

SYNTHESIZED FROM:

RELATED ARTICLES

EXPLORE MORE

No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

The Atlas of the games industry.